LIHU‘E — Kathy Clark is waiting for a full day of sun. The chief executive officer and president of Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Friday led a dedication and blessing ceremony for the new solar photovoltaic farm. Located in the employee
LIHU‘E — Kathy Clark is waiting for a full day of sun.
The chief executive officer and president of Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Friday led a dedication and blessing ceremony for the new solar photovoltaic farm.
Located in the employee parking lot behind the hospital, Clark said the new system is expected to produce between 13 percent and 52 percent of Wilcox’s electricity needs on a 24-hour basis.
“I just can’t wait to see what it can do when we finally get a full day of sun,” Clark said.
Consisting of 2,190 solar panels connected to three inverters, Clark said each panel is capable of producing 504 kilowatts of power per hour.
This makes Wilcox the first hospital in the state that has harnessed the power of the sun to help produce electricity that the hospital needs to operate, officials said.
Additionally, Clark said the project is the second largest of its kind on the island and the third largest in the state.
From December to Jan. 12, the solar system generated 38,055 kilowatt hours, which translates to an estimated value of $15,602 based on a 41 cents per kilowatt hour rate.
With the help of the county’s engineers and Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative, the system is tied directly into the hospital’s electrical distribution system, enabling the hospital to use all of the electricity generated through the solar farm, states a press release from the hospital.
During peak sun hours of some five hours daily, the system produces enough energy to meet about 52 percent of Wilcox’s electricity needs, and on a daily basis, which includes the nighttime hours, the system produces about 13 percent of the hospital’s electricity needs.
The release states that an advantage for the island is that solar power is producing electricity during peak demand hours. That can help ease the load on the island’s electricity grid.
The system was designed and installed by Suntech Hawai‘i, the state’s largest locally owned renewable energy firm, and Wilcox officials noted that during the installation period which started on Nov. 10 and was completed Dec. 20, the crews worked “rain or shine.”
Wilcox Hospital’s green efforts do not end with solar. It is the dream to have more renewable energy for the hospital using wind generators in the future, the release states.
